Ghana’s Benjamin Azamati and Abdul-Rasheed Saminu will line up in two of the most competitive heats of the men’s 100 metres at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
The heats begin at 11:35 a.m. Ghana time (11:35 GMT), with Azamati racing at 12:03 GMT in Heat 5, while Saminu takes to the track at 12:17 GMT in Heat 7.
Only the top three finishers from each heat will automatically progress to the semi-finals, making qualification a stern test.
Azamati, with a SB of 9.98s this year, faces reigning world silver medallist Letsile Tebogo (10.03s) of Botswana, former Olympic champion Andre De Grasse (10.15s), of Canada, and the in-form American Courtney Lindsey (9.82s). Lindsey has the fastest time this season that line up, with Brazil’s Erik Cardoso following closely with 9.93s.
He will also run alongside Germany’s Lucas Ansah-Peprah, who has Ghanaian roots.
In Heat 7, Saminu with a SB of 9.84s goes head-to-head with some of the fastest men in the world — Africa’s sprint king Akani Simbine (9.90s) of South Africa, Commonwealth Games champion Ferdinand Omanyala (10.00s) of Kenya, Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (9.99s), and Japan’s Hakim Sani Brown (10.31s), who has a Ghanaian father.
The Netherlands’ Elvis Afrifa (10.09s), also of Ghanaian parentage, completes a heat with heavy Ghanaian flavour.
Saminu’s 9.84s recorded in July is the fastest time among the list of athletes lined up in Heat 7.
In fact, five of the athletes across the two heats have Ghanaian connections — Azamati, Saminu, Ansah-Peprah, Afrifa, and Sani Brown.